Blogging is Cheap
I’m writing on my new blog every day for thirty days straight. This is the twenty-second one. Since starting this blog, I’ve had the opportunity to read, re-read, and edit a lot of my own writing. I’ve written a lot about myself. At times, it’s seemed arrogant and it’s bordered on boastful. I’ve struggled with the question of whether this whole process has been arrogant, boastful, or at the very least - too self-interested.
Right now, I’m reading C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. It was a gift from my Mom a couple Christmas’ ago. It’s a fictional account of a demon giving advice to a novice demon in charge of “securing the damnation of an ordinary young man.” It tells the story of “a man’s temptation and his triumph over it.” So far I love it.I’m also currently subscribed to the blog of a man named James Clear. He writes about “behavioral psychology, habit formation, and performance improvement. That is, [he writes] about how small habits can change our lives, and society, for the better.” It’s really engaging stuff.The funny thing is that within the last twenty-four hours, I’ve read something from both of these sources that’s touched on my question above. Neither answers the question completely, and they almost contradict each other. So I actually think the answer to my question lies somewhere between what both of these present.
Here’s what I read from The Screwtape Letters, after the novice demon’s target man has renewed his faith in God:
It remains to consider how we can retrieve this disaster. The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance. Let the little brute wallow in it. Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilizing the seed which the Enemy plants in a human soul. Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel, Your affectional uncle, SCREWTAPE.
The above passage concisely confirmed some fears I've had. Here I am an actor. And I’m essentially “writing a book” about my acting career. Is this blog keeping me from action? Am I doing a lot of feeling without a lot of acting? As a result, am I weakening myself so that I’ll never be able to build the habit of working on my actual career?
Here’s a snippet from James Clear’s post. I couldn’t say it better than the quote James pulled from Stanford professor Kelly McGonigal:
It turns out that writing about your values is one of the most effective psychological interventions ever studied. In the short term, writing about personal values makes people feel more powerful, in control, proud, and strong. It also makes them feel more loving, connected, and empathetic toward others. It increases pain tolerance, enhances self-control, and reduces unhelpful rumination after a stressful experience.In the long term, writing about values has been shown to boost GPAs, reduce doctor visits, improve mental health, and help with everything from weight loss to quitting smoking and reducing drinking. It helps people persevere in the face of discrimination and reduces self-handicapping. In many cases, these benefits are a result of a one-time mindset intervention. People who write about their values once, for ten minutes show benefits months or even years later.
So here I stand on the opposite side of the passage from the Screwtape letters. Writing about my values may actually be doing a lot more good than I realize. But here they’re talking about writing from ten minutes, and James goes on to says he does this once a year. I’ve been doing a lot of it over the last twenty-one days.
So here is my answer, I truly believe that writing about your values can help. Thank goodness - I haven’t been totally wasting my time. I think it’s a wonderful way to reaffirm what a person stands for.But.I know that recently I’ve written about my values on and off this blog too much. I think it’s become a way for me to procrastinate.Don’t want to work? Welp. Probably time to re-evaluate my values. Don’t want to study? Guh. Probably time to re-evaluate my values. Don’t want to write a blog post about something worthwhile? Well it’s probably time for another post that somehow rehashes my “strength and resolve to pursue my dream at all costs.”Talk is cheap. Blogging is cheap. The Screwtape Letters helped me see that. I'm not worried about having weakened myself too far. I can get back on track. Just took a little perspective. Thanks for the Christmas gift, Mom.11:57PM PST.